From LaBelle, Florida for Hendry and Glades County and the Lake Okeechobee region. Don Browne, editor.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Why Casey Anthony Will Walk Free - Baez' New Defense

Casey - A Non-Treatable Psychiatric Disease?

While the defense has yet to present it's case, Jose Baez on behalf of accused child murderer Casey Anthony is certainly going to present a novel set of circumstances in an attempt to keep his client out of prison next week when his defense portion of the trial begins.

(photo: Dorothy Clay Sims comforts Casey Anthony)

Anthony goes into the defense portion of the trial with one big advantage, she's a proven liar. She's gotten away with it for a long time, some say learning from her father. George Anthony has been accused of being a liar by his ex-wife, according to Dr. Drew Pinsky on his nightly cable tv show.

Here's what we speculate Baez could say next week:

1. Casey is a pathological liar, reinforced over the years by father George Anthony
2. A pathological liar uncontrollably makes up lies bearing no semblance to reality and are even harmful to themselves
3. Casey lied to attorney Baez, confusing him, making a strategy of defense to confront her accusers impossible
4. There is no medical or psychological treatment for pathological liars
5. It is cruel and unusual to criminally punish anti-social behavior that has no current treatment
6. Anthony cannot be convicted criminally for lying because of the unusual untreatable condition she has
7. Anthony cannot be convicted of murder because reasonable doubt has been shown at trial
8. Anthony should be committed to a psychiatric facility for study and treatment, should treatment ever be available

9. A mistrial should be declared due to Anthony non-cooperation with her attorney, and his confusion resulting from her lies

About Pathological Lying - Pseudologia Phantastica

According to Dr. Charles C. Dike, of the Yale University School of Medicine's division of law and psychiatry in a June 2008 article from Psychiatric Times, there is no universal consensus in the psychiatric community on the definition of pathological lying (PL). It is said to be characterized by a long term history of lying for which no psychological motive or external benefit can be discerned.

This fits easily with Anthony's behavior of lying which made no apparent sense, and had no benefit for her as she made up an imaginary babysitter, imaginary job, led investigators to an imaginary office at Universal Studios Florida, and on and on.

Pathological lies appear purposeless, often self-incriminating and damaging to the liar, making the lies seem to others incomprehensible, says Dike. He says ordinary lying is goal directed to gain external benefits but PL is just the opposite, with no apparent benefit to the liar.

Dike says PL is relatively obscure although it was first observed in the medical literature a century ago and termed "pseudologia phantastica."

He says letters from "mental health professionals, attorneys, and individuals around the world describe similar characteristics in people they know—excessive lying, easily verifiable to be untrue, mostly unhelpful to the liar in any apparent way, and even possibly harmful to the liar, yet told repeatedly over time."

There is yet no psychological test for PL, or much research which confounds efforts to define and understand it and define it as a mental disorder.

Prevalence of PL in the population is unknown, but a study of 1000 repeat juvenile offenders found a prevalence of close to 1%. The average age at onset of the lying behavior was 16 and the average age at discovery was 22. The intelligence quotient (IQ) was found to be average or slightly below average, with significantly better verbal IQ than performance IQ; and a history of brain abnormality in 40% of the cases, characterized by epilepsy, abnormal electroencephalographic findings, head trauma, or infection.

If PL as a disorder can be established in an individual it would cause concern for the degree of responsibility of a pathological liar when their lies lead to criminal behavior, says Yale's Dr. Dike.

23 comments:

News Flash! Casey's lies do NOT fit this definition in any way. Her lies have a very clear, consistent purpose- to keep her from the death penalty....with the added bonus of making a mockery of the legal system.

You are correct. Thanks for the heads up! Rosalie Bolin of course is the Anthony defense team expert who is married to 49-year old serial killer Oscar Ray Bolin, Jr., a current resident of Florida's Union Correctional Institution in Starke, Florida, serving three sentences for murder, one life sentence and two death sentences. Story on Bolin: http://swflorida.blogspot.com/2011/05/casey-anthony-trial-wife-of-serial.html

I do not see a jury letting her walk free from killing her daughter because she is a liar. That only makes things worse for her because there is no reason for her to have lied except to get her way. I hope and pray that if she did commit this crime she gets either life or death but definitely justice for baby Caylee Marie Anthony. As for her defense team they are all either serial killers lovers, dead beat dads or just old and needing to retire.

She is cunning, but I don't see her as a particularly intelligent liar. She used the fake Nanny name 'Zenaida' from a child's book that was Caylee's favorite book, that was read to her often. And in plain sight.

Surely Casey should have realized that it would be too easy to debunk such a strange, exotic name by finding it in such an obvious source. She clearly didn't think that lie through very well, and grabbed the most obvious fake name from her child's favorite book which was discovered later.

A truly intelligent liar would have given the lie more thought, and come up with a far more plausible name that wasn't so obviously fabricated.

In my opinion, Casey Anthony suffers from a Dissociative Disorder, likely Dissociative Amnesia. This I am convinced of. I realize that my opinion will anger some people, as it appears so many want her to pay for this crime with her life. I wish I thought she was guilty of murder. I wish I didn't think she was suffered from Dissociative Amnesia, but I do. I was dissociative disordered for a long time and I recognize the signs. I want to know more before I judge her. To me, there is not enough evidence to say she murdered the child. Did Caylee die from neglect? Perhaps, but to say she murdered her child, I think is a bit of a stretch... Asking for her death is really dark, in my opinion. They should have given the jury something less... after all, the girl was all of 21 when Caylee died.

Just one more thought - what if Casey Anthony was Dissociate Disordered and her trauma was exacerbated more by a trauma against her and Caylee, resulting in Caylee's death.... I realize that seems far fetched to some, but to me it doesn't. While everyone thinks she is a purposeful liar, my question is - what if she truly believed there was a Zanny, the nanny? What if Roy Kronk is the good samaritan the prosecution said he was?

From what I have seen so far....I'm not convinced it was a first degree...second? Honestly I'm not even sure about that. I would not SO FAR convict because she is a horrible..lying..stealing person..that's all.Now...."something wrong is" with George.

was Susan Smith mentaly ill? Weve seen young mothers in the news who kill their children because their new boyfriends doesnt like them or the mother doesnt want to be tied down...as for being an "uncontrollable pathilogical lier" ..every lie she told was for a purpose. she told her freinds that she had a nanny so they would not wonder where she was..she told the parents she had a job so they wouldnt bug her She told her lawyer that she used to drug the baby so she could go out...i beleave she wanted the baby gone so she could live a single life again

Which one of you are on the jury?...............None. I hope.lets leave this to the jury. Maybe they'll get it right. Because every one I talk to about this is either delusional or irrational. You haven't seen the evidence in full, only on your mind control boxes(If you think this is a delusional statement stop watching your T.V. for a week, see how clear your thinking is then). So your opinions don't matter.

I followed this case from the beginning, and I'm still overwhelmed. The defense, the prosecutors, the media are all bringing in their opinions. I saw opinions because there are two completely different views from both sides of the court... when the duct tape was applied, whether actual decomposition took place in the trunk of the car proven by the presence of certaib insects, whether there was a heart shaped sticker on the duct tape, who Caylee's father is, whether Casey's father sexually abused her..... this trial can be easily swayed by the confidence and reverence of who ever presents the evidence. The media will do what they're known for and hype the tension for ratings and manipulate those eager for entertainment while they side with the most interesting "stories." Go watch days of our lives or whatever.. media has already coined it a soap opera of a case. I've never blogged before.. I just ran across this, and um already done with it.

"Did Caylee die from neglect? Perhaps, but to say she murdered her child, I think is a bit of a stretch"

This line drives me crazy. Ok so if Caylee died from neglect from her mother doesn't that pretty much mean she murdered her child?! I can't stress enough that giving your child chloroform or xanax is NO accident! If that is the neglect they are talking about then yes, she murdered her baby girl.

mur·der/ˈmərdər/Noun: The unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.

un·law·ful/ˌənˈlôfəl/Adjective: Not conforming to, permitted by, or recognized by law or rules.

Casey may not have sat there and said to herself "I'm hopefully going to kill Caylee." I think she was doing it to knock her out so she could go party. No accident. I believe it was premeditated because of the risks she should and would have known to either of those drugs! And since when is chloroform permitted by law and since when is giving a 2 year old xanax permitted by law? Since when is it ok to make your own chloroform to put your child to sleep? I don't understand people. And if she is not found guilty we wouldn't even know what to do. I can't see her getting to walk away from this. I also do not see her getting the death penalty. But either way, a little justice and peace will be with Caylee Marie and her grandparents. Not much but atleast something!

Personally, I think Zanny the Nanny was zanax. The zanny bars was babysitting Caylee. Also, isnt there any guy or guys out there that knows, hey I had sex with Casey around the time that Caylee was conceived. Really, who is the father of this baby.

I have children, it wouldn't take even 2 seconds and I'd be screaming for help. Being a cheater has nothing to do with a brutal murder of a baby. This baby killer is grasping at any thing to save her narsacistic self. come on!

For those of you assuming she gave her daughter Xanex, pay attention. When the prosecution brings in new witnesses you see an anthropologist that will tell you there are no signs of not only chorophorm but any chemicals (including Xanex). Pay attention if you are going to comment intelligently. Thank God you aren't on the jury!